De Dochter van de Korenaar Embrasse Belgian Ale

drssouth

Stephen South
De Dochter van de Korenaar Embrasse, Een bier om van te houden, alc 9%...this high gravity beer from Belgium is "just what the Dr. ordered"...it's color is dark caramel and a bit murky...the nose is hoppy with some grass and a little sweetness...it is rich and mouthcoating with a semi-sweet dense hops type of taste...it has some interesting spiciness and is just nicely balanced....it borders on a Porter type of style....Quite good with the Brunswick stew Barb made tonight (sans squirrel)
 
I tried some from this brewer a while back - the range was mostly excellent. They also make a whisky barrel aged version of this, which IMO, wasn't quite so successful. (Am I the only one that is bored with the fad of ageing beers in whisky casks or of adding coffee/chocolate/whatever to beers? There is nothing at all wrong with just hops for flavouring; hops rock! nothing more is needed!)
 
I don't care for chocolate or coffee or barrel flavored ales.
Some other flavorings are pretty good in certain styles, like a little orange rind or coriander in a Belgian wit. Actually a lot of the flavors in Belgian ales come from the yeast strains they use, more then just hops.
 
Marc, you are right. Orval fucking rules - and that is so much about brett. I don't care about Wits so much, but some lovely saisons (like Vivaldi's .... sorry .... Jandrain-Jandrenoullie's IV Saisons) do have coriander. But the times I have had coriander infused beers have been far more successful than those (more numerous) with coffee or chocolate.

Whatever, that was a thoughtless post from me. Sorry.
 
No need to apologize, its all fascinating to me.
Until fairly recently I thought most of the flavors in beer came from malt and hops. Learning about the Belgians and their wild yeast strains is very interesting.
 
Told you this was quality beer. And such presentation! A real tasting note would have included the bottle number.

Finesse is also very good.

Noblesse and Courage are ehh.
 
Marc, I enjoyed the Noblesse - very citric, pure and un-funky for a Belgian. Muscadet-like in some ways. I do agree, that the Courage wasn't terribly pleasant, however.

But tonight I drank another beer that has lots of flavours that aren't from malt or hops, yet which I really liked! Ngne - Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales - Stone Brewing Co - Special Holiday Ale. Everything about this bottle would suggest something I wouldn't enjoy: three brewers (more than one cook will destroy a dish, right?), high alcohol (8,5%), American hop varieties (I do prefer the brighter aromas of most European varieties) and the addition of sage, caraway, juniper berries and chestnuts all made me feel a bit apprehensive.

But it was like one of those rare, good, Italian, medicinal bitters: deliciously bittersweet instead of either cloyingly sweet or just disgustingly bitter. I guess I just let the camels on the label influence me! How could one not like something with camels on the label? They are ill tempered, foul smelling, brutish animals that kick and bite and are immensely lovable.

I can't help but think that this is "spoofy" beer, and though I probably drink more beer than wine (with my ex-colleague from the bookshop now importing Belgian beers here), so I shouldn't like "spoofy" beer, but I do. How strange.

I went and bought a second bottle. If I tire half way through that, I'll let you know. For now, Ngne seems like a brewer that does nothing wrong (as long as one enjoys the aromas of American hop varieties).
 
I admire Ngne a good deal, have yet to have a clunker from them. They try (on the whole) to emulate the "American craft beer" style, maybe like Mikeller or BrewDog or perhaps Urthel too. Ngne 's own "Winter Ale" is one of the best winter seasonals I have had.
 
What I love about Ngne is that their renditions of styles are themselves so stylish and elegant. Even some pretty extreme styles are rendered with grace and elegance. My homebrewing style is very similar (though not nearly as good...) They make a broad range of very good beers.
 
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